Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Professor

Psychology Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Contact details

About me

I am interested in animal behaviour and ecology, comparative colour vision, animal welfare and human animal interactions. I have conducted both field research, and research on captive animals. I promote the welfare of animals housed in captivity, for example through lecturing, courses and open-access websites (see https://www.marmosetcare.stir.ac.uk/ ; https://animalconcepts.mykajabi.com/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfareforcaptivewildanimals and https://nc3rs.org.uk/3rs-resources/housing-and-husbandry-dog Together with my former PhD student, Dr Lou Tasker, funded by a BBSRC CASE studentship, I contributed to The Macaque Website of the NC3Rs (nc3rs.org.uk/macaques/), launched in April 2015.

I graduated from St. Andrews University, where I returned as a post-doc after completing my PhD at Reading University under the supervision of Hilary Box. I began working at the University of Stirling in 1989, and following a lectureship at Lancaster University took a full time position at Stirling in 1995.

Current External Positions

Member of the UK Zoos Expert Committee to advise DEFRA, and the Scottish, Northern Irish, and Welsh governments on zoo matters (including conservation, education, scientific research, and animal care standards), and member of the Elephant Welfare subgroup and Private Primate Keeper Standards subgroups (2021-present) Member of the Animal Welfare and Ethics group, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (2013-present) Member of the Living Links Executive Board and leader of the "Welfare and mixed-species living" project (2008-present). Corresponding member of the Primate Society of Great Britain's Captive Care Working Party (1996- present). Member of the Editorial Board of Neotropical Primates (Jan 2000 - present). Member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group: Neotropical Section (1995-present). Member of the Ethics Committee, Blair Drummond Safari Park (2005 - present). Core member of the Scottish Primate Research Group (1995 - present). Universities Federation for Animal Welfare UFAW link (2010-present)

Previous positions include:

Member of the Home Office's Animal Procedures Committee (2009-2012) and member of their Primates Subcommittee and Housing and Husbandry Subcommittee. Member of the European Association for Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) Animal Welfare Working group (2015-2018) Member of the BIAZA Research Group - Reporting Group (2002 - 2018) and the BIAZA animal welfare sub-group (2011-2018).  External Examiner for MScs in Exeter (2007-2011) and St Andrews (2008-2011) Universities. Council Member of the Primate Society of Great Britain (2008 - 2011). Member of the Executive Committee for the XXII Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, 2008. Member of the International Primatological Society's Captive Care Committee (2002 - 2008), with shared responsibility for rewriting the "IPS International Guidelines for the acquisition, care, and breeding of nonhuman primates". Member of the BVA(AWF)/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinement in primates (2003 - 2008).

My research has focused primarily on non-human primates(but also other animals) in three inter-related scientific areas: behaviour and ecology, colour vision and welfare. Where appropriate, I advocate a combined approach of field research in natural habitats, together with hypotheses testing under controlled conditions in captivity. The colour vision research advances our understanding of the evolution and functional utility of colour vision, by relating genotype with phenotype (BBSRC funded). I also conduct a range of research on the Refinement R of the three R's (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement - the basic principles underlying humane experimental technique). This work has direct practical and practicable application in enhancing animal welfare (funded by BBSRC, EU, PHHSC (3Rs liaison group) and NC3Rs).  I have a wide range of collaborators including close links with the RZSS Edinburgh Zoo as well as Blair Drummond Safari Park, and with Paws for Progress (https://pawsforprogress.co.uk/), a non-profitable organisation dedicated to improving the lives of people and animals.

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